Christmas Magic

[Cheers. Afternoon]

(Diane enters the bar carrying two trays with five cups of tea each. Kelly, Oakley, Holly, Vera, Sharon and Hank have joined the party)

Diane: Tea ready to drink. (Is surprised to see Lilith) Lilith! What a surprise! Would you like a cup?

Lilith: Don't worry, Woody is making one for me.

Carla: The good thing is that yours will get cold with just one glance.

(Lilith glares at Carla)

Diane: You don't seem very happy. Is everything all right?

Lilith: Yes, I just didn't want to spend Christmas home alone. Frederick is with his father.

Sam: I think you've come to the right place. (Hands her the cup of tea and a piece of panettone)

Lilith: Thank you.

Cliff: Did you know that the origin of panettone goes back to the Roman Empire? Back then they sweetened the bread with honey.

Sharon: Another interesting fact is that its first appearance in art was in a 16th century painting by Brueghel.

Diane: (Excited) Brueghel! Do you remember, Sam?

Sam: No. Should I?

Diane: We saw his painting The Triumph of Death, at the Prado Museum in Madrid, during our honeymoon, just before we went back to Boston. The Danse Macabre –also known as the Dance of Death–, literary topics such as Vanitas and Memento mori... Certainly an impressive work.

Carla: (Ironic) And very appropriate for commenting on Christmas.

Diane: (Laughs a little when she hears her) I'm sorry, I got carried away.

(Tasting the panettone, Carla frowns and looks at it)

Carla: Hey, you made the recipe wrong. This is supposed to have candied fruits, and raisins.

Diane: The kids don't like raisins, and being they as energetic as we were when we were their age, I refuse to give them such a huge amount of sugar, or else, they wouldn't sleep all night, neither would I. So I play it safe.

(While everyone is eating, the phone rings and Diane, who is the closest to it, picks it up)

Diane: Cheers. (Surprised and happy to hear him) Frasier? How is your Christmas going?

Lilith: (Quietly, to Diane) Don't tell him I'm here.

(Hearing Lilith, Diane nods, and upon finishing listening to Frasier's response, she laughs in surprise)

Diane: Is he okay? (...) Yes. (...) Yes. (Happy and smiling) Merry Christmas.

Sam: How's Frasier?

Diane: (Holding in her laughter) Well... His now goth son left him alone because he wants to be with his girlfriend, his brother tried to get high with a pot brownie and while he was getting coffee, his father ate it.

(Hearing Diane, everyone is surprised and laughs, except Lilith who smiles in resignation, wondering who is more pathetic, Niles or Martin)

Making your way in the world today

takes everything you've got.

Taking a break from all your worries

sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you wanna go

where everybody knows your name

and they're always glad you came.

You wanna be where you can see

our troubles are all the same.

You wanna be where everybody knows your name.

You wanna go where people know

people are all the same.

You wanna go where everybody knows your name.

[Malone's house. Early morning]

(Everything is dark except for the living room, which is lit by the Christmas lights so when Santa arrives, he can put the presents under the tree. On the table by the fireplace, there is a small box of Ferrero and a large mug of beer, covered with a small plate. Sam and Diane are in their room, both sound asleep, with Toby curled up at Sam's feet and Becky beside Diane. The two are face to face, cuddling, and Diane is also cuddling the cat. On Diane's nightstand is Miracle on 34th Street, by Valentine Davies, marked with a bookmark in what appears to be the change between Act I and Act II. On Sam's is his baseball cap. Lizzie is up in her room, practicing ballet in her pajamas as Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker March plays and Ernie is in her bed, clutching two sound monitors from when they were babies as he nods off, one of them is hidden in his parents' room to make sure they are both asleep and do not interrupt their plans, the other is in the living room so they will be able to hear Santa arrive. As Lizzie dances, she begins to recite A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore, although as she goes along she makes small modifications, such as adapting the narration to the lunar phase, since instead of having a full moon, this Christmas they had a new moon)

Lizzie: 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house / not a creature was stirring, not even the dog. / The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, / in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. / The children were nestled all snug in their beds, / while visions of the Sugar Plum Fairy danced in their heads. / Mom with her book, Dad with his cap. / Had just settled our brains for a long winter's sleep.

(Just as she gets to the part where Santa Claus arrives, a noise is heard outside. Ernie, excited, quickly wakes up and gets out of bed. Along with his sister, he looks out the window, while she continues to recite the poem)

Lizzie: (Excited) When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, / I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. / Away to the window I flew like a flash, / tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. / The moon did not reflect on the new-fallen snow, / nor did it illuminate its surroundings. / But in the darkness, to my wondering eyes did appear, / but a miniature sleigh and nine tiny reindeer / with a big old driver so lively and quick.

(Just like the poem said, there was Santa's sleigh. Only in this case, it was not a flying sleigh, but one with golden wheels and dogs with antlers instead of reindeer. When Santa Claus speaks, one can tell immediately that it is Norm, but the children, in their excitement, do not notice that detail, nor the fact that two of the reindeer were Budweiser and Schlitz, Norm and Vera's mastiffs. The other dogs belonged to their neighbors, who had kindly agreed to lend him their pets for the night so their friends' children could enjoy a magical experience)

Lizzie: (Excited, leaning her hands against the window while looking at Santa and his "reindeer") I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick. / More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, / and he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name: / "Rudolph! Dasher! Dancer! Vixen!" / "Prancer! Comet! Cupid! Donner! Blitzen!" / "To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!" / "Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!" / As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, / when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

(As if by magic, the dogs climb the outside wall of the house. From Ernie and Lizzie's strong magnet in their paws and that their mother had placed magnets all the way up to the roof so they would come up. Diane thought her children would sleep through the night, but she was aware of how she was like when she was their age, and had decided to play it safe just in case the children saw something)

Lizzie: So up to the housetop the coursers they flew. / With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. / And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof / the prancing and pawing of each little hoof / as I drew in my head, and I left the room. / Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. / He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot. / And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

(Norm, going down the chimney with the help of the rope that Diane had set up, is surprised and startled to see the children up and looking at him. Nervously, he continued with his work, thinking that they had only come to look, and thanking Diane for being so foresighted. Diane had asked him to dress up as Santa Claus, bring the presents in a dog sled and enter through the chimney. Luckily, Sam had adapted it to his size to prevent him from getting stuck. When Norm sees that Elizabeth is reciting a poem, he turns around to hide his smile as he thinks how much she is like her mother)

Lizzie: A bundle of toys he had flung on his back. / And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. / His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry! / His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! / His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, /

and the beard on his chin was as white as the snow. / An already empty mug of beer in his hand he held / and carefully on the table he set. / He had a broad face and a little round belly / that shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. / He was chubby and plump, just like a jolly old elf, / and I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

(While Elizabeth recited the poem, Norm placed the gifts under the tree, left some candy in Ernie, Lizzie, Sam and Diane's socks, and dog and cat treats in Toby and Becky's socks)

Lizzie: (Looks at Ernie and smiles at him) A turn of my head and an discreet wink / now everything is ready, let the plan begin. / He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, / and filled all the stockings. Then he bid farewell with a smile, / yet he did not vanish through the chimney. / Away I hear the herd bellow / asking for the presence of their fellow. / With a fervent desire to leave, he exclaimed: / "Merry Christmas, everybody!"

(At that moment, Ernie jumps on Norm and ties his hands, startling him)

Ernie: Go tell Mom and Dad. I'll keep an eye on him.

(Determined, Lizzie runs to her parents' room and opens the door abruptly, which wakes them up and startles them. Happy, Lizzie jumps on Diane)

Lizzie: (Excited) Mommy, Mommy. Santa's here.

Diane: (Looks at her, still half asleep and, hearing her, sighs with a smile) Yeah, but it's still early. Wait until morning to open the presents. (She cuddles up with Sam to go back to sleep)

Lizzie: (Excited) No! I mean, he's in the living room! We kidnapped him!

(Hearing Lizzie, Diane quickly turns to her and they both look at her startled and shocked)

Sam and Diane: WHAT?!

(Sam and Diane exchange a worried look and run out of the bed)

Norm: Samuel Malone, I think you know very well what this means.

Sam: Yeah, I know...

(Resigned, Diane sighs and kneels down to be at her daughter's level)

Diane: Elizabeth... What you and your brother have done is wrong.

Lizzie: Why? We're not going to keep him here all night. I just wanted you to two meet him.

Sam: Why?

Lizzie: Because he's such a fascinating man. Besides all the anecdotes he must have from so many years on the job, St. Nicholas has a different background than we do.

Sam: He's not human?

Lizzie: Of course he is, I mean he's European!

Sam: Ah!

Lizzie: Being from a country so different from ours and being so old, I'm sure he must be a wise man. (To Diane) I always thought you'd be happy to talk to him.

(Realizing why they did this, Diane smiles tenderly)

Diane: And don't you think it's better if we talk to him through letters and let him do his job? Even with the time difference, he has to hurry.

Lizzie: All right...

(Hearing Diane, Ernie lets Norm go)

Lizzie: Can we at least give you a hug?

(Hearing the little girl, her parents and Norm smile tenderly. Then the two children give him a hug and Sam and Diane smile at him)

Diane: Sorry for the inconvenience. And thank you for not getting upset.

Norm: They're just kids. Besides, I've seen their parents do worse things.

(Sam and Diane laugh at this, and the kids turn their heads and look at them with curiosity)

Sam: Thanks, Nick. Have a safe trip.

Norm: And you guys have a merry Christmas. Although if you don't mind, I think I'll use the door this time.

(Hearing Norm, Sam and Diane laugh. When he leaves, they both look at their children)

Sam: I think it's time for you two to go back to bed.

Diane: Or to simply go, if you haven't gone yet. But before you do... I'm real curious, how did you do that?

Lizzie: We found the monitors from when we were babies in the storage room. We put one hidden in your room and one by the fireplace. (Grabs it)

(Sam and Diane are surprised to see it and thankful they fell asleep before doing anything that night)

Diane: But how did you manage to stay up this late? Your father and I fell asleep right away.

Lizzie: Because we switched teas. Sweet Dreams to Relaxation. Though just for our cups.

(Remembering and realizing that, hours earlier, the children pretended to bump into each other and spill the tea, and then switched the contents while distracting them with the help of their pets, Diane is surprised. Her daughter was not even seven yet and was already smarter than her father was when he was 37)

Sam: I can tell you got your intelligence and wit from your mother.

(Lizzie, hearing her father, smiles. She was proud to have surprised them, and also to have been told that she took after Diane, because in many ways, she was her role model)

(...)

(The morning of December 25 began in the most magical way possible. When the children woke up, they smiled as they saw their mother walking to the table with two plates of cinnamon rolls and their father with two cups of hot chocolate. They were both still in their pajamas and Diane was still wearing an apron. Toby was following Diane, waiting to get his breakfast as well. Becky, however, just wanted to stay close to the oven to enjoy the pleasant warmth it provided. When they looked out of the window, they both smiled at the sight of a thick layer of snow)

Sam: This's still very hot. If you want, we can open some presents first.

(Excited, Ernie and Lizzie run to the tree and each grab their own present. When they see that they are ballet clothes and a remote-controlled car, they are both happy)

Lizzie: Just what I wanted!

Ernie: Thanks, Santa!

(Seeing how happy their children are, Sam and Diane look at each other with a smile and open their presents while the children open Toby and Becky's)

Diane: (Seeing that Sam has bought her candles, bath bombs and a table so she can enjoy a book and a glass of wine while she takes a bath, she smiles in surprise and looks at him) Sam... Thank you so much...

Ernie: Mom, Santa brought them, not Dad.

Diane: Yes, but Daddy and I have had a tradition for years of asking him in our letter what we want the other one to get.

Ernie: Adults are weird...

(Hearing the boy, they both laugh. Sam, upon opening the gift and seeing that it is a wallet, smiles and kisses Diane)

Sam: Thank you.

(Before they go to have breakfast, Ernie gives Toby the bone that Santa brought him and Lizzie goes to the kitchen to get Becky and brings her back wrapped in her heated blanket)

(...)

(After breakfast, Lizzie and Ernie open the package which they know are books. Now that they could read and had the level to handle something denser than picture books, Diane was trying to get them into the habit of reading the classics, and also trying to get them to read female writers. Of course, at such a young age they would not understand everything and it would take them a long time to read them, but that was something Diane was aware of. Her intention was that during their childhood they would read adaptations of the more complex books and have a first contact with the not so complex ones so that, when they read them again as teenagers, they would have at least a vague idea of the plot. Her long-term goal was for them to reread the books at different stages of their lives: their adolescence and/or young adulthood and as adults, so that they would notice how interpretation changes as we get older and how depending on our age and our personal situation at that time, we pay more attention to one thing or another)

Lizzie: (Reads titles as she pulls out books) Winter Holiday, by Arthur Ransome; The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett; The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson; and Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. (Hugs Diane) Thanks, Mom.

Ernie: They're thick...

Diane: (Laughs) Well, you have one for every season. And if you have a hard time reading it by yourself, we can try to make progress during story time.

Ernie: Thanks.

Sam: (Grabbing two envelopes) There are still two gifts left. (Gives one to each child)

Ernie: (Opens it and, upon reading it, opens his eyes wide and jumps up to hug his parents, putting one arm around each of them and leaving his head in the middle) I love you! Thank you for asking Santa for this!

(Diane smiles happily to see her son so excited, but Sam looks at him puzzled because he has no idea what this is all about. Curious, Lizzie tilts her head back and reads the tickets)

Lizzie: Disneyland.

(Sam, realizing this, opens his eyes wide in surprise just like his son and jumps to hug Diane, moved)

Sam: Diane, I love you.

(Diane, hearing Sam, smiles happily and strokes his back affectionately. Then Sam picks up one of the tickets to read it)

Lizzie: (Opens the other envelope and looks confused at the folded paper inside) It looks like a map...

(Diane, hearing her daughter, frowns in confusion and comes closer)

Diane: Let me see... (Picks up the paper) This is weird... It looks like a map of our house... Maybe there's some other toy hidden.

Lizzie: I think it's in the basement.

(As Elizabeth runs out, everyone stands up and follows her. When she gets to the basement, she stops where there is an "X", right on the third shelf, where the books are. First she looks at all the books, thinking that the surprise might be a new one, but when she realizes it is not, she starts to take them out one by one)

Diane: Elizabeth, stop for a moment... This is so weird... Sam, is it just me or the cross is at the end of the shelf?

Sam: (Looks at the map) It seems so.

(Diane, intrigued, starts touching the wood until she notices a small bump at the top. When she presses it, the shelf rolls to one side revealing a door. Seeing it, the children and Diane's eyes widen in shock, and Toby and Becky step back, startled. Where they thought there was a wall, there is a wooden door. Not knowing what it is behind it, Diane pushes it open, cautious and still in shock at the discovery. When the door opens, there is a staircase leading down. As the flight of stairs was rather dark, they all went down carefully and with great curiosity. When they reached the end, they discovered a cool room in which sounds of birds, owls and leaves could be heard with a misty sky and a moon and two hedges about 6.6 feet high with a stone path in the middle and a gate made up of a fence at the end are displayed before them. Diane, seeing it, turns to Sam with wide eyes, still unable to process what is happening, and the children look at each other excitedly and run to the gate. As they pass it, they can be heard gasping in surprise)

Lizzie: Mom, run, you have to see this!

(Diane, a little startled, runs to her children and Sam, Toby and Becky follow her. When Diane sees that what stands in front of her is an artificially created forest with grass, ivy, trees, plants, flowers and mushrooms, she turns to Sam with wide eyes, as if expecting a response from him, but Sam just smiles and walks over to where the children are. Diane, still stunned, follows him. The forest is dense and damp despite the fact that none of the plants there are natural. Like a child entering a magical world, Diane looks up at the treetops with great curiosity and amazement as many questions cross her mind)

Lizzie: (Very surprised and excited) Mom, look! A fairy!

(Diane, surprised, looks to where her daughter points and glimpses a small creature in the treetop. The recreation was so perfect that it looked like something out of a movie. As they kept on walking, they came across a lagoon and some metal benches with flowers and moss. Curious, Lizzie and Ernie touched the water. It was crystal clear and shimmering. At that moment, Diane realized that it was real water and not an optical illusion and wondered how deep it could be and what kind of water it might be)

Lizzie: It's cold.

Ernie: Do you think it's drinkable?

Sam: No. The water in the lagoons is not drinkable.

Lizzie: This looks like a magical world. I can't wait to sit here and read. Do you think there are monsters and bugs, Daddy?

(Hearing the girl, Sam and Diane laugh)

Sam: No, I don't think so.

(...)

(After crossing the forest and walking through an archway of branches, the children and Diane are speechless. A few meters away from them there was a waterfall whose waters became a river. In the middle of it was a stone bridge to cross to the other side and, in the back, there was a majestic castle framed by a beautiful rose garden. Excited, the children run off while Diane turns to Sam and looks him in the eyes)

Diane: Sam, I have a lot of questions on my mind right now... How? When...?

Sam: (Laughs a little and smiles) Do you remember when you made a trip to Europe six years ago?

Diane: How could I forget? The kids took their first steps the day I got back, at the airport.

Sam: Well, that week Woody and I decided to play the lottery. And we won lots, lots of money.

(Diane, hearing this, is surprised)

Sam: Don't worry, this time it was all legal. The thing is... we talked about it... Kelly is already rich, and we don't want a luxurious life. With our salaries we can manage and we can pay for occasional treats, like going to a concert or going on vacation with the kids. After much thought, I came up with this idea. Woody agreed to lend me his share of the money and, for years, I've been building this under the house. With help, obviously. I couldn't have done this on my own.

Diane: (Moved) Sam Malone, you are the best father in the whole world, and a wonderful man. But I have a question. Why didn't you tell me? I would have helped you...

Sam: Because I wanted to see your reaction. The sparkle in your eyes was not that of a 48-year-old woman, but of an 8-year-old girl. And, honestly, I can't wait to see you explore and to enjoy this world with you.

(Happy, Diane smiles and the two share what probably was their most magical kiss)

(...)

(Hours later and already dressed in street clothes, everyone is in the castle library. Like the forest, it has a magical atmosphere. The floor is parquet, there are huge bookshelves full of books of all kinds, the wooden tables have candles and lamps, the chairs are made of an elegant soft fabric and, at the back, there are huge and majestic stained-glass windows that project different shades of pinks, blues and purples. For added comfort, there are reading areas made up of armchairs and rugs. In one of them, Lizzie is reading Winter Vacation by Arthur Ransome aloud to Ernie, Oakley and Holly. At one of the tables by a candle, Kelly is painting. At another table, Sam is reading Mandy by Julie Andrews. Diane is climbing the ladders beside the bookshelves so she can reach the books that are too high. When she finds the one she was looking for, she carefully climbs down and hands it to Woody, who was holding the ladder to prevent it from moving while he was waiting for the book)

(...)

(At noon, Kelly sets out the plates and silverware in the castle dining room while Sam, Diane and Woody are in the kitchen, Sam doing the dishes, Woody serving portions of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce on the plates next to the roasted turkey and green beans, and Diane taking an apple pie out of the oven)

(...)

(In the evening and dressed all in elegant and period clothes, they dance Waltz Over the Waves, by Juventino Rosas, in the great hall)

(...)

(What started as an idea to surprise and make the children and Diane smile, ended up becoming a second home for them. The children went almost every day to the castle's playroom, which had two areas: one with trampolines, cubes to lean on and do jumping forward rolls, a zip line, a rope, swings and big spiral tube slides that led to a pool of fluffy balls; and another with a climbing wall, a rope to climb the wall, soft non-slip loop ring climbers, a wobble bridge, a marry-go-round spinner, a human size hamster wheel to run on and bars to do forward and backward rolls, push-ups and pull overs. When they needed to relax and warm up, they went to the hot springs room, which was like a warm, freshwater pool made of polished rock. The walls of that room resembled a sunset sky, which made the experience even more pleasant. Without realizing it, Sam had created a space that would see the kids grow up. Ernie, Lizzie, Oakley and Holly often went into the woods to play hide-and-seek or tag. When they were in Junior High, the four teens sat in the library every day to study or do their homework, all dressed in a gray skirt or pants, formal shoes, a white button-down shirt, a navy blue blazer with the school crest, and blue and red tie. Oakley and Lizzie were in the drama club together at school, and often rehearsed scenes in one of the dormitories or outside the castle. Lizzie, who was also in the ballet club, often practiced in the great hall, alone or with an audience. Holly, who was in the art club, often immortalized landscapes in her paintings. Ernie, who was in the baseball club, often practiced with his father when he had the evening off. On Friday nights they had a tradition of watching a movie as a family in the movie room, and during the vacations they would go there with Woody and Kelly's children to watch movies or TV shows. Ernie and Holly shared their first kiss on Cheers II after their high school team won the state baseball championship at age 15. Lizzie and Oakley did it a year later sitting in the fountain in the hydrangea garden behind the castle. The summer of their junior year they began their vacations there, each couple sleeping in one of the four dormitories, having croissants with homemade jam and coffee for breakfast, and enjoying picnics in the gardens at lunchtime. When Sam and Diane imagined what their life with two teenagers would be like, they never thought it would be something this peaceful. Obviously not everything was perfect, there were fights from time to time, especially when they were overwhelmed by exams or a big game or premiere, but having so much space, being so happy and feeling fulfilled, rather than frustration like most teenagers, what the Boyds and the Malones were experiencing was personal growth and growing up together. These were two lucky families)